Organization tips use list, pipe cleaners

Dear Heloise: I have two helpful hints for you and readers! I love getting magazines but hate getting multiple notices from publishers that my subscriptions are due for renewal soon. (Especially when I renewed for a multiyear period!) I started keeping a list on a single sheet of paper that shows when I last sent a payment and the expiration date for each publication. I can now easily toss out those annoying solicitations.My next hint is that I have started using a color-coding system in my closet so I can quickly grab the right item of clothing. For example, I have many different pairs of black pants (crop, palazzo, gauze, etc.). I use colored pipe cleaners and wrap them around the metal hooks so that I can tell one pair of pants from another. Short pants get blue pipe cleaners, while work pants get brown.This system could also be used for kids to help them match outfits. Diana,in California Dear Heloise: We use a lot of bread crumbs in our cooking. The bread crumbs you buy in stores are bland, tasteless, and too fine for most things. Even "panko" isn't much good for anything, and store-bought crumbs are very expensive.Instead, we save the odds and ends of all bread products: the "heels" of packaged loaves; bagels; pitas; tortillas that have passed their sell-by date; and any kind of bread (rye, whole wheat, white, sourdough, etc.). We choose to save basically anything made of bread.We put these in a drawer in our refrigerator. They will dry out but not go stale or moldy. When a good bit of "hard" bread is available, we use a food processor with a shredder blade to grind them up. This process makes excellent bread crumbs of varying textures and uses stuff that might have otherwise been thrown away. New River Valley Outdoorsman,via email Dear Heloise: My husband and I live in South Florida, and we sometimes have anole lizards that get into the house or pool cage. My husband bought a net, like you use to scoop up aquarium fish, and this is how we've been able to catch the lizards without hurting them. We just put them back outside. Judy and Eric VonMueller,Venice, Florida Dear Heloise: I just read the letter from Brianna in New York regarding onions and how to get her children to eat them. A very simple fix that has worked for me is to run them through a food processor to dice them up very small and add them to any recipe. Your children will get the flavor and benefits without seeing the onion in their dish. Michele,in Connecticut Dear Heloise: I play cello in a large orchestra, and when I'm home, I practice every day in our family room, which is just off of the kitchen. Since I also love to cook, I found that using my music stand works well to hold my recipe books. I just move it from the family room to the kitchen and set it down by my counter.The idea caught on so well that several of my fellow musicians, as well as my sister, have begun to do the same thing. A metal music stand is very light, easy to move around, and high enough to be read with ease. A.R.,via email Send a money-saving or time-saving hint to Heloise@Heloise.com